Hané Festival storytellers share Native American tales

Native American storyteller Teddi Duncan counts to ten in Apache while behind her Adam Teller counts along while telling tales Saturday morning at the Octavia Fellin Children's Library in downtown Gallup. Duncan, Teller and Sunny Dooley gathered together for the Second Annual Hané Storytelling Festival, which organizers describe as an opportunity to appreciate the diversity of Native American stories and culture. {Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Karen Francis
Staff writer

GALLUP — The oral tradition of Native Americans came alive this past weekend with the annual Hané Storytelling Festival. Some 250 people took part in activities scheduled throughout Friday through Sunday at the Octavia Fellin Children’s Library and the First United Methodist Church .

The festival is one of the few in the country that features Native American storytellers, which drew people from as far away as Albuquerque, where some University of New Mexico students came from to fulfill a class requirement.
Sunny Dooley, Diné, was one of three featured storytellers. Joining Dooley were Teddi “Shush” Duncan, Apache/Laguna, and Adam Teller, Diné.

“We want people to listen to stories,” Dooley said, explaining the purpose of the festival. She added that oral storytelling has been a Native American tradition for thousands of years.

“I think many Native Americans don’t really know how rich of a story telling tradition we have,” she said.

Dooley found that many non-Natives are interested in hearing the stories. She said she didn’t realize how many stories she had to tell until she left home.

When she returned, she began asking Navajo children if they had ever heard Coyote stories and most hadn’t.

“I thought, ‘Gee, Coyote’s such a good teacher. They need to learn these stories,’” Dooley said. “I personally knew of a generation that hadn’t heard the stories so we had to go back and tell them.

Personal stories
Each of the storytellers has a purpose in telling the stories.

Duncan said since she began storytelling when she was a teacher at Head Start, her purpose in sharing the stories has been to educate.

“I wanted to share with other people about our culture just to enlighten people about the Pueblos,” she said.

Teller had a very personal reason for embarking on his storytelling journey.

“My grandpa was a medicine man and he told me, ‘Don’t let these stories die,’” he said. “I have to carry on his legacy and keep these stories alive.”

At the children’s library, Dooley told a personal story about wearing her mother’s shoe and losing the shoe in a gopher hole.

Dooley, an animated storyteller, usually draws laughter from her audience.

“They laugh because storytelling is fun,” she said. “I think it sparks a lot of their own memory of what it was like growing up. They enjoy it.”

Teller said that sharing the stories is very important “because it brings your life balance and harmony. If we teach our kids these stories, they will be in balance and in harmony as they walk the beauty way of life — what we call the corn pollen path.”

Teller was pleased with the turnout for the free performance at the children’s library on Saturday morning.

For Teller, a storyteller for seven years, it was his first time at the Gallup festival, though he has participated in many other storytelling festivals. He usually brings a male perspective to the stories.

“I tell what we call male sweat lodge stories,” he said. “It’s far different the way a male tells a story than a female.”

Teller began storytelling when he was working at the Navajo Nation Museum and was asked to present before 200 people. Unknown to him, he was being taped by Navajo Nation TV 5.

“That Sunday I saw myself on TV and that was the first time I was truly inspired to be a storyteller and to go into the public,” he said.

How Shiprock was born
On Saturday evening, Teller told the story about how Shiprock was born.

Teller said that the most special part of telling stories is when grandmothers approach him to thank him.

“They say, ‘Ahé heè. Thank you for bringing the old story back to me. It brought my grandpa back to life,’” he said.

The audience members, both native and non-native, are actively engaged in the stories that are told, through humorous and sometimes emotional connections.

“The audience reacts in a very humorous way,” Teller said. “When you’re very animated and entertaining, they will reward you with a good ovation.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Duncan sometimes tells stories that make her audience cry.

“Most of the stories I tell make people cry,” she said.
Duncan traveled all the way from Oklahoma to share her gift of Pueblo and Apache stories.

She became involved with the festival after her niece participated last year and recommended Duncan become involved. Duncan had often heard about Dooley from other storytellers and was excited to work with her.

“I thought ‘Good! Another person who thinks the way I do and learned the way I did,” Duncan said.

A third-generation storyteller, she learned stories from her grandfather and father.

Butterfly creation
Duncan shared a story about the creation of the butterfly. The moral of the story, she said, is that life does not end.
Duncan has gathered nearly 300 stories and is still collecting.

She emphasizes that the stories were told to her. “These stories aren’t mine. They belong to my people,” she said.
Duncan tailors her stories to the specific events where she is presenting. For example, when talking to children, she includes them with singing, counting, games and sign language.

“They love it,” she said.

For the Hané Festival, Duncan said that the storytellers complement each other and she chose which stories to tell based on what else was being told.

“When a teller starts, we try to complement each other,” she said.

Duncan said that her favorite story is about “Bushy Boy,” because it reminds her of her son. The story is that a little boy was born deformed but grew up to become a good runner and a great hunter who helped his people to survive.